Data and Visualizations

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The FTC collects data related to various aspects of its mission and work, and shares that data in different formats and at different levels of frequency. This page links to visualizations, reports, API endpoints, and datasets.

Consumer Protection Data and Visualizations

The FTC collects reports from consumers about fraud, identity theft, and other consumer problems. These reports are stored in the Consumer Sentinel Network (“Sentinel”) database. Annual and quarterly Sentinel data is available for exploration on the FTC’s interactive dashboards, and is also released annually in the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book. The FTC encourages use of the data to advance consumer education, research, and the development of solutions to address marketplace problems.

New in 2019: With the release of the annual Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book on February 28, the FTC has expanded and enhanced the collection of interactive Sentinel dashboards available to the public. We’ve improved on last year’s static annual data book website by creating interactive dashboards with maps, charts, and data. Users can now more readily spot trends over time and explore identity theft data in greater depth. All dashboards have been updated to include reporting data for the fourth quarter of 2018. Dashboards are now organized into three topic groupings: The Big View – All Sentinel Reports; Fraud Reports; and Identity Theft Reports.

Consumer Protection Data Spotlight

If the mere thought of your computer being hacked frightens you, you’re not alone. And tech support scammers know how to exploit that fear to their own advantage.

Interactive Dashboards

Visit the FTC’s Tableau Public landing page to explore aggregate statistics about fraud, identity theft, and other consumer problems, or select from the sampling of dashboards below to go directly to an area of interest. See the Data Guide for more information. Each dashboard has tabs across the top that enable you to drill down into reports and data. All dashboards enable you to download data, create PDFs or images of pages, and export slides.

API (application programming interface)

The FTC strives to make its data available in machine-readable formats. It currently makes its HSR Early Termination Notices, related to mergers and acquisitions and released most weekdays, available via an API endpoint.